CHICAGO -They have heard it for a complete week, and it is so ingrained in their minds that any word-association game produces a consistent response from the Giants.

You say “Bears” and Giants say “desperate.”

It is as if they should be called the Chicago Desperates. Poll the Giants about the Bears and there it comes, as if on command. The Bears? Oh, they’re desperate, of course. Thanks for asking.

Makes sense. The team the Giants square off against this afternoon at Soldier Field is 0-2, a rotten start for what is supposed to be, according to preseason hype, one of the NFC’s up-and-coming squads. The Desperates, er, Bears, are coming off a 41-0 pounding in Tampa Bay. This is their home opener. At 0-3, those playoff aspirations might as well be cast aside for another year. The Bears are, well, you know by now.

But what of the Giants? If the Bears are indeed desperate, then how are we to characterize the Giants, who at 2-0 are off to their best start in six years, rolling on offense and hammering on defense? Are they content? Confident? Over-confident?

“We haven’t clinched anything yet,” Toomer cautioned. “We won two games against teams that weren’t in the playoffs last year. It’s not like we’ve beaten the Rams twice in a row or we’ve beaten Tampa Bay.

“Not to say anything against the teams we’ve beaten, because they are real competitive teams, but to be the best you have to beat the best, and we haven’t really beat the best yet. So I feel like we’re desperate.”

Feeling is one thing, actions are another. As they dismantled the Cardinals and Eagles, the Giants along the way have begun to dispel all those nagging questions about their ability to rise above their mediocrity of the past two seasons. Their offense, directed by Kerry Collins, is clearly more potent. Their defense is back to treating running backs like rag dolls. Next up is an interesting test to determine just how much the Giants have changed their ways.

With success behind them and the Redskins and an NFC East first-place showdown ahead, the Giants can view the Bears as an intrusion or a launching pad. When Collins this week said “I swear to God, I’m scared to death of this game,” he was met with a skeptical expression. Collins did not crack a smile. “It’s going to be a tough game,” he warned. “I’m dead serious.”

No one can say the Giants haven’t been schooled. Jim Fassel said he was looking at this game “with a very watchful eye” and later added, “It’s a scary game when you think of it mentally. What I’m counting on is that our guys are in the right frame of mind.”

It could be that Bears quarterback Cade McNown runs wild and his passing attack gets cranking and the Giants finally hit a speed bump with their own offense. But the Giants seem more concerned with their approach than anything the Bears can throw at them. Fassel made sure to mention to his team that although they are unbeaten and the Bears are winless, it is the Bears who are favored. Never pass up a chance to unveil the time-tested “no respect” theme.

“It bothers me a little bit, but who cares?” Barber said. “There are 52 other guys in this room who favor us, and that’s all that matters.”

Barber was asked why the Giants will not fall into what certainly appears to be a trap. “There are too many mature guys here who are tired of losing,” he said. “I think we’re determined to prove we can win under any situation, we can go on the road in a hostile environment and win. Every week will be another opportunity for us to show ‘Hey, look, we’ve got something special here.’ You can look at us and like it or you can continue to doubt us.”